A FORMER CHAIRPERSON of Meath County Council has claimed he has been “tortured” for six years and lost his livelihood over allegations about the rezoning of lands in Navan, Co Meath, in which two of his sons have an interest.

Former Fianna Fáil councillor Tommy Reilly told an inquiry held by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) that he had been lambasted by “a certain group of political people” on Facebook, which had devastated him and his standing in his community.

Reilly, who had been a councillor since 1996, lost his seat in the Navan electoral area in last year’s local elections, when he was the outgoing chairperson of Meath County Council.

He told the SIPO hearing that last year was the first time in 63 years that he was asked not to canvas during elections because his name had been “dragged through the mud.”

The inquiry heard that a 35-acre site at Liscarton on the outskirts of Navan, which is owned by Reilly’s son, Ciaran, had a purchase price of €500,000 in August 2016. 

However, the same site had an asking price of €4.2 million when it was placed on the market after being rezoned the following year (although the land was not sold).

Two of Reilly’s sons, Ciarán and Tomás, are directors of Royal Active Business Solutions – the company which owns the lands.

Reilly is facing four allegations of breaching legislation governing the conduct of elected representatives.

One of the allegations Reilly faces is that he failed to declare a conflict of interest at a number of council meetings between July 2016 and May 2017, over the fact that one or more of his sons had an interest in lands that were under consideration for being rezoned, contrary to the Local Government Act 2001.

The former councillor was also accused of failing to disclose the nature of the interest of family members in the Liscarton site at a special planning meeting of the council on 19 July 2017, although he did withdraw from the meeting on the basis that he had a conflict of interest.

He is also accused of failing to maintain proper standards of integrity, conduct and concern for the public interest, and acting in a manner inconsistent with the proper performance and duties of a councillor.

Reilly gave evidence that he first learned about his son Ciaran’s interest in the lands at Liscarton while in his bedroom in early July 2017.

He said his son had asked him how he would go about making a submission on a development, but he replied that he could have nothing to do with it.

“I took no action,” he added.

The inquiry heard the witness attended a special planning meeting of Meath County Council about two weeks later on 19 July 2017, which he left after declaring he had a conflict of interest.

Reilly told his counsel, Dáithí MacCárthaigh BL, that he should have explained his conflict of interest, but said that in 30 years in politics, he had heard people excusing themselves from meetings without ever being asked why.

Reilly said that he had never been asked by anyone to elaborate on his own declared conflict of interest.

He stressed that he himself had no interest in the lands.

Reilly said his son had many business interests, of which he knew very little or nothing about.

He believed that once he had declared a conflict of interest, he had fulfilled his obligations and did not believe at the time that he had to update his ethics register.

“I find it all very confusing,” he told the hearing.

Swearing by his six grandchildren, he stressed that he never mentioned the lands in Liscarton to anybody.

Reilly’s cross-examination by counsel for SIPO, Mark Curran BL was dominated by tetchy exchanges – including when he was asked how he would know about any potential conflict of interest if he did not know about his son’s business.

Reilly said he was familiar with his obligations to make declarations about his interests but did not know about “connected persons.”

“My son was involved. I knew that much. Was that not enough,” he replied.

He added: “As far as I was concerned, I was 100% right in what I did and it ends there,” he retorted.

Reilly said he was asked by his son to attend what he termed an “explanatory planning meeting” in March 2018, and did not believe there was anything appropriate in him doing so.

He said he disagreed with the view of the former chief executive of Meath County Council, Jackie Maguire, that it had been unwise for him to have attended the meeting.

Reilly told the hearing that he “wasn’t too happy” when he discovered his own name was listed on a planning application in relation to the Liscarton lands, and “attacked” his son over it.

In other evidence, Ciaran Reilly confirmed he first became interested in purchasing the lands at Liscarton as an investment opportunity in mid-2016.

He denied that he was not originally listed as a director in the company that purchased the land in order to keep his family name hidden.

His brother, Tomás Reilly, said he was asked to become a director of the company by his brother but did not talk to his brother about business.

Tomás Reilly said his brother did not talk to him about the purchase of the lands at Liscarton or why he was asked to be a director.

He said he had “no understanding” why the company records showed it owed him €15,368 since 2018, and had never discussed why he was owed the amount with his brother.

He confirmed he was still a director of the firm, but has no shareholding in it.

At the conclusion of the inquiry, the chairperson of the six-person Commission, Justice Garrett Sheehan, said it would announce its findings at a later date.